I just read the following in a newsletter I received today... I don't mind Orval losing their Trappist label, but it would be horrible to see it disappear...

Belgium: Orval beer suffers from lack of monks in the abbeyBelgium’s famous Orval beer risks losing its Trappist category as there are not enough monks to brew it, according to L’Express.

In the 1980s, there were about thirty monks brewing Orval beer in the monastery. However, today the abbey only has 12 Cistercians monks – not enough to ensure the mass production of the brand.

Besides, the volume currently produced lags far behind the demand. The output grew from 40 000 hl in 2000 to 69 000 hl in 2012, but this is almost the capacity limit, the abbey brewery’s site says.

Orval brewery is now considering whether to increase the production by employing workers from outside and thus lose its “Trappist” label, or stabilize or even diminish the production and thus face the risk of complete disappearance, it is reported.